Pit clearing construction for bowling pin handling machines



2, 1955 F. w. ANDERSON 2,714,508

PIT CLEARING CONSTRUCTION FOR BOWLING PIN HANDLING MACHINES Original Filed Dec. 16, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1220882305 Wary?! Wuindens'on, .94%., M W 773% MW flifys Aug. 2, 1955 F. w. ANDERSON 2,714,508

PIT CLEARING CONSTRUCTION FOR BOWLING PIN HANDLING MACHINES Original Filed D60. 16, 1949 MP l 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1320832303 Fania?! Wflizdeason,

qua, WW flifym Aug. 2, 1955 F. w. ANDERSON 2,714,503

PIT CLEARING CONSTRUCTION FOR BOWLING PIN HANDLING MACHINES Original Fi led Dec. 16, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 s x, a, mw 1 w a m I W 1 1 90 a I l (\I||I\Il\ m mm. Gm. m MW w y W Tm. 6

ulCmlc Aug. 2, 1955 F. w. ANDERSON PIT CLEARING CONSTRUCTION FOR BOWLING PIN HANDLING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Dec. 16, 1949 as o Ii'wenion- 193 111223! Wflndemon 975% WM vil i/ya Patented Aug. 2, 1955 PIT CLEARING CONSTRUCTION FOR BOWLING PIN HANDLING MACHINES Frank W. Anderson, North "vVeymouth, Mass, 'assignor to Murphy Automatic Piiisetter Company, "Inc., Cambridge, Mass, a corporation or Massachusetts Original application December 1949, Serial No. 133,385. Divided and this application November 28, 1952, Serial No. 323,110

4 Claims. (Cl. 273-43) This invention relates :to a pin handling machine for bowling alleys and the present application is more par ticularly concerned with those mechanisms which take pins as received in miscellaneous arrangement in the pit at the rear of the alley and deliver them to a setter" proper in which they are received in proper triangular array, and which deposits them on the alley surface to be bowled at. In practice these would form part of an organized machine including such a better, and suitable alley clearing means. Certainparts of suchlattermechanisms are disclosed in the drawings, but they will herein be referred to only in 'avery general way. Ilreferto my application, Serial No. 133,385 (not Patent 2,668,713) of which this application .is a division and my copending application, Serial "No. 133,386, 'both filed December 16, 1949, for a fuller disclosure of the'mecham'sms soshown, the mechanisms of the two applications when combined in a coordinated machine being a preferred construction.

The object of the invention is toprovide a compact combination of partswhich will function rapidly, smoothly and accurately.

My invention will be well understood with reference to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a simplified side elevation of aspin handling machine;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section showingin-planthe rear end of the alley and the pit;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33-0f Fig. 2;

Figs. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d show-details o'f-Fig. B, Fig. 3c being a section on line 3c-3c of Fig. 3b, and Fig. 3d a section on line 3d-3dof Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top. plan viewof the machine; and

Fig. 5 is a diagram.

In the annexed drawings many parts of a complete machine as described in -my applications above referred to appear. It will not be necessary to refer to some of them specifically in thepresent description. 'lhave however retained on the parts which appear the reference numerals used in'thoseapplications. The following statement as to the applicationof those numerals insaid cases applies to those of them which here appear. I have designated bycapital reference letters, intended to correspond to the initials of descriptive words, certain portions of the mechanism, the division beingsomewhat arbitrary. Electric switches have been designated by the letter S and discriminated one from another by anumeral following that letter. The letter M designates a motor, again With'a discriminating numeral following. Numerals 140 indicate the respective pins so-called, that is the No. 1 pin is the one at the apexof the triangular array as we look at it from the bowlers position, and the No. 7 pin, the pin'at the left-hand'extremity of thebase. -Idesignate by such a numeral as an afiix to a reference letter or numeral 21 part which receives'a pin which 'will occupy the position so identified when it is transferred to the alley. No reference numeral has been used on 'the balls or pins as such, as they will be readily recognized. in

tion is more particularly concerned above.

balls may be driven elevator E at the rear of the carrying pins and balls. its height (see Fig. 3) a .pin on one of the flights to the head of the alley. member and delivered to most position, to set the detailed description I have utilized even numerals beginning with 2th to apply to those mechanisms more particularly the subject matter of the present application and the application of which it is a division. in my other companion application above referred to 'I have utilized for the parts there more particularly described, and shown only in a general way here, odd numbers beginning with 15. i have retained on the drawings all the numerals used in these two cases Where the parts identified thereby show in the figures, although many are not mentioned in the following description. The major reference letters applying to groups of parts are the same in the two cases.

An automatic machine for handling bowling pins and balls suitable for use with candle pins may include, as the one herein disclosed, the following parts:

1. Means for clearing the alley of standing pins and deadwood at the end of the frame, delivering them into the pit;

2. Mechanism in the pit for transferring the balls and pins in succession, one by one, to

3. A suitable elevating conveyor or hoist from which the balls are discharged for return to the head of the alley and which delivers the pins to 4. An assembly rack on which ten pins may be assembled in a row and which herein cooperates with 5. A rack feeder which positions the pins on the rack;

6. Means for discharging the set of ten pins from the rack at the proper time;

7. Transfer chutes, desirably fixed in position, into which the pins are delivered from the assembly rack and chutes, and

9. Means for operating the frame to position the pins on the alley to permit a new frame to be bowled. in the case of candle pins no mechanism need be provided for clearing deadwood from the alley until the frame is completed. Also, since the pins are symmetrical, no mechanism is necessary to insure that they be assembled facing in one particular direction. The present applicawith items 2 and 3 Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a machine such as has just been referred to is therein shown, and I will first describe it in a general Way. In these figures we see the rear of the alley A and the pit P at the rear thereof into which pins and in the course of the game. Belts B in the gutters also deliver to the pit pins and balls which are driven off the alley surface at the sides. An pit has suitable flights for At an intermediate portion of fixed member 2%, past which a Will pass, will engage a ball as shown in the upper portion of the figure and nudge it off on to the rails 22 along which it returns by gravity The pins are carried past this the assembly rack R, seen at the 'upper left-hand portion of Fig. 1. After ten vpins have been assembled in side by side relation on this rack, a transfer mechanism T pushes them off the rack into a set of fixed chutes C, through which they descend to a vertically reciprocating setter frame F, to which they are transferred when this frame moves downwardly toward the alley. The frame carries the pins down to the alley and releases them when it reaches its lowerup the pins thereon in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

I will now describe the mechanism associated with theapit'forhandling theballs andpins as they arereceived in miscellaneous arrangement. The pit area may -be divided horizontally by the flexible weighted curtain 24,

so that the balls or pins which ahe forcibly projected from the end of the alley strike the same and fall into the forward portion of the pit. The alley clearing mechanism delivers the pins which remain on the alley at the end of the frame over its rear edge into the forward portion of the pit. The bottom of the pit comprisesa rotary disc 26, rotating counter-clockwise, as seen in Fig. 2, Within an upstanding guard 28 which is provided, herein substantially at the 11 oclock position viewing Fig. 2, with a gap of substantially the length of the pin through which balls and pins move from the top of the disc to the elevator E. The disc is rotated on a central shaft 30 (see Figs. 3 and 3a), and its margin may be supported by rollers 32 on spring-supported plungers 34 arranged around its periphery. The purpose of these is primarily to prevent distortion of the disc if it should he stepped upon.

The disc is somewhat conical so that the balls and pins tend to roll down toward its periphery and the guard 28. Herein also the shaft 30 is inclined laterally and rearwardly so that the surface of the disc at the right of Fig. 3 along the lower radial portion of the section line 3-3 of Fig. 2 is horizontal. The highest portion of this disc is thus in front of the curtain 24, which extends substantially diametrically of the disc, but well over toward the left-hand side of the latter, the lower side viewing Fig. 2, and the gap in the guard 28 above referred to may be at the lowest point of the disc diametrically opposite. Thus as pins fall on the front of the disc they tend to roll downhill, no L only toward the periphery of the disc but in the direction which is upward viewing Fig. 2. There are no projections on the disc such as could interfere with the free movement of the pins to its periphery and the space between its apex and the guard is unobstructed. They arrange themselves against the guard 23 in positions perpendicular to the radii of the disc, and as they pass the gap in the guard 28 roll off, to be picked up by the conveyor in the manner presently to be described. There may be a pin resting against'one or more others which themselves bear on the guard 23, and if so it will simply be carried around the disc a second time and will move outwardly against the guard when an opportunity arises. The arrangement of the high portion of the disc somewhat in front of the center line of the disc, and consequently of its lowermost portion at the rear of the center line, has the advantage which will be appreciated, that it places the elevator behind the curtain 24 out of the way of flying pins'and balls. The central plane of the elevator is parallel to the tangent to the disc at its lowest point. This arrangement of the elevator and of the mechanisms with which it cooperates at a higher elevation, as will hereinafter be described, is important for other reasons which will appear later. The disc 26 may be driven (see Fig. 2) by a quarter turn belt 36, which takes motion from shaft 38 driven by bevel gearing from the bottom shaft 40 of the elevator E. The gutter belts B may also be driven from this shaft 38 (see Fig. 1).

The elevator E is of ordinary type comprising two parallel chains 42 supported by sprockets on the shaft 40 and other sprockets on the upper driven shaft 44 and connected by flights 46 in the form of shallow trays adapted to carry pins or balls, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. Referring now to Fig. 3, a pin or ball which rests against the guard 28 and is moving with the disc toward the lowest point of the latter, when it arrives at the gap in the guard 28 will roll oi the same onto a supporting plate 48 coming to rest against the shaft 40 which is so near the edge of this plate that the pin or ball cannot fall down further. Then when one of the flights approaches from below it, as seen in Fig. 3, it will underride the middle of the pin and lift the pin up in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. When a pin arrives at the upper end of the elevator E it is pushed off from 4 the flight and is thus moved onto the intake end of the assembly rack, which is fully described in the parent" application.

As is seen in Fig. 4 the rack R (embodying the plate 52 with ten pockets numbered 1 to 10) is disposed with its center line extending perpendicularly to the central plane of the elevator and since the elevator opposes the gap in the guard rail 28 around disc 26 which gap is in the third quadrant Fig. 2, the longitudinal center line of the rack is at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal center line of the alley, measured counterclockwise from the latter. This not only permits positioning of the high point of the pit disc 26 as already described and the elevator at the lowest point of the disc at an'advantageous point thereof in the third quadrant viewing Fig. 2, but is important even if those advantages were not obtained.

Referring to Fig. 5 it is apparent that the pins arranged on the rack R in a longitudinal row are delivered to the setter in triangular array. It is also clear that with any simple means for arranging them they would be equally spaced in this longitudinal row. Now No. 5 pin in its position on the alley and its corresponding position in the setter frame, is directly behind the No. 1 pin and the No. 9 and No. 8 pins are directly behind No. 3 and No. 2. If the center line of the rack were at right angles to the alley it would be difficult to deliver No. l and No. 5 because the chutes would interfere with each other, and in previous machines with which I am familiar this has necessitated carrying the pins either to the intake ends of chutes at a considerable distance away from the rear of the alley or to a very high position. In the present construction the assembly rack may be directly over the rear of the pit and at a moderate elevation only.

Referring to Fig. 5 it will be seen that by placing the center line of the rack at an angle of about 97 to the longitudinal center line of the alley measured counterclockwise from the latter and starting from the equally spaced pockets therealong, the chutes may be extended in approximate parallelism, with the chute for the No. 6 pin extending between those for the Nos. 9 and 10, No. 3 between 9 and 5, and No. 1 between 5 and 8. It might be thought that it would be desirable to choose a larger angle so that we could draw parallel lines from the positions of the pins to equally spaced points along the center line of the racks thus to provide equal spacing of the pockets of the rack with the chutes completely parallel. However, in this case the longer chutes are not so easily accommodated in the space between the other chutes and the approximate parallelism described with even spacing of the intake ends of the chutes and little interference in effective placing of the several chutes is satisfactory.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illusstrative and not restrictive, as is in fact clear in several matters from the description itself. Reference is to be had to the appended claims to indicate those principles of the invention exemplified by the particular embodiment described and which I desire to secure by Letters Patent.

I claim:

1. In a pin handling machine for bowling alleys wherein a pit is provided at the rear end of the alley to receive pins and balls from the alley, the combination with such pit of a rotary disc set therein having an upwardly coned surface, an upstanding guard about the periphery of the disc of a height to intercept fallen balls and pins at the pen'pheryof the disc, the upper surface of the disc being smooth and unobstructed between its apex and said guard, the guard having a gap in the rear semi-circumference of the disc substantially of the length of a pin for the discharge of successive pins outwardly from the surface of the disc and across the periphery thereof and conveyor means adjacent the gap to receive the objects passing therethrough.

2. In a pin handling machine for bowling alleys wherein a pit is provided at the rear end of the alley to receive pins and balls from the alley, the combination with such pit of a rotary disc set therein having an upwardly coned surface, an upstanding guard about the periphery of the disc of a height to intercept fallen balls and pins at the periphery of the disc, the upper surface of the disc being smooth and unobstructed between its apex and said guard, the guard having a gap in one of the rear quadrants lateral to the longitudinal center line of the alley substantially of the length of a pin for the discharge of successive pins outwardly from the surface of the disc and across the periphery thereof and conveyor means adjacent the gap to receive the objects passing therethrough.

3. in a pin handling machine for bowling alleys wherein a pit is provided at the rear end of the alley to receive pins and balls from the alley, the combination with such pit of a rotary disc set therein having an upwardiy coned surface with its axis inclined laterally and rearwardly to present that portion of its surface which is immediately in back of the alley in a radially and downwardly sloping position, an upstanding guard about the periphery of the disc of a height to intercept fallen balls and pins at the periphery of the disc, the upper surface of the disc being smooth and unobstructed between its apex and said guard, the guard having a gap substantially of the length of a pin, opposite the lowest point of the disc for the discharge therethrough of successive pins outwardly from the surface of the disc and across the periphery thereof and conveyor means adjacent the gap to receive the objects passing therethrough.

4. In a pin handling machine for bowling alleys Wherein a pit is provided at the rear end of the alley to receive pins and balls from the alle the combination with such pit of a rotary disc set therein having an upwardly coned surface, the axis of the cone on which the disc revolves being laterally inclined to dispose an element of its surface which is at least substantially transverse to the length of the alley in a horizontal position with. the surface adjacent the alley inclining thence circumferentially and radially, an upstanding guard about the periphery of the disc of a height to intercept fallen balls and pins at the p riphery of the disc, the upper surface of the disc being smooth and unobstructed between its apex and said guard, the guard having a gap substantially of the length of a pin, opposite the lowest point of the disc for the discharge therethrough of successive pins outwardly from the surface of the disc and across the periphery thereof and conveyor means adjacent the gap to receive the objects passing tnerethrough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 990,593 Ringland et al Apr. 25, 1911 1,784,084 Williams Dec. 9, 1930 1,806,274 Williams May 19, 1931 1,911,436 Cone May 30, 1933 2.273,782 Irwin Feb. 17, 1942 

